Media

Winner of the Silver Medal in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award from the Society of American Travel Writers

Finalist for the Banff Mountain Book Competition — Adventure Travel

“In Campbell’s moving memoir, which doubles as a kind of extreme parenting guide, crisply detailed scenes are stacked with rural perils and pleasures, from treacherous canoeing, solitary fly-fishing and cabin building to grizzly bear threats and emotional nuance between a very loving parent and child.” — The New York Times

“One of the reasons we read books like Braving It [is] to experience what we may never have the particular courage to and share the terror and thrills of those who do….And Aidan is exceptional, choosing to ditch friends and devices in order to rough it. It is invigorating to meet a young woman hellbent on self-sufficiency, to watch her twist the head off a just-shot caribou and bop around the campsite, bear bells jingling around her neck….Mr. Campbell has set his daughter on the hero’s journey and offered her the inviolable obligation of the parent: to show his child that she needs to save her own life and that she can.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“Campbell’s prose captures both the difficulties and pleasures on offer in the extreme wild… Parents who enjoy Campbell’s adventures vicariously might find themselves contemplating their own family outing.”
—Richmond Times Dispatch

“James Campbell describes … trips to Alaska, where father and daughter faced off with grizzlies, battled clouds of mosquitos, capsized in a freezing river—and pushed the bond between them to its limits.”
—National Geographic

“Braving It is a detailed portrayal of terrain so harsh it would give any seasoned outdoorsman pause, complete with grizzlies, brushes with hypothermia, and a growing bond that is honest, hard-earned, and touching.”
—Men’s Journal

“Campbell, through his descriptions and thoughtful reflection, brings to life the Arctic’s great beauty, expanse and values as a wilderness and testing ground — a ‘final frontier’ for a certain kind of seeker… Braving It is a smart, insightful book that should be read by fathers and daughters everywhere — and by anyone who looks to wild country as ‘part of the geography of hope.’”
—Alaska Dispatch News

“A touching and riveting true story of hope and adventure.”
—Alaska Beyond

“[Campbell’s] daughter, Aidan, [is] worthy of a book-length tribute….Braving It [is] as much about parenting as it is about adventure, though in Campbell’s book the two concepts are often inseparable.”
–Isthmus

“With humor and honesty, Campbell brings readers along for the adventure, which is full of swarms of hungry mosquitoes, the fear of grizzly bears, and the push-pull relationship between a teenage girl and her father… Campbell expertly blends facts on the flora, fauna, and general life in the Alaskan bush with his reflections on being middle-aged, with many adventurous years behind him, as opposed to his daughter, whose quest for adventure has only just begun. Informative, humorous, and full of a love of nature.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A delightful and sometimes harrowing tale of the Alaskan bush.”
—Shelf AwarenessBraving It in the News